The Cincinnati Bengals enter the offseason with one of the league’s highest cap space allotments and got some good news on Monday.
According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, the NFL informed teams the salary cap will jump to $224.8 million, up from $208.2 million from last year.
That’s an increase of $16.6 million and not insignificant at all for a Bengals team looking to retrain key free agents, potentially add more and — atop the list, of course — get Joe Burrow’s extension done.
It’s also another sign thanks to the revenue-sharing deal that accounts for media contracts, the 17th game and more, that the cap should only keep jumping in future years.
For now, the Bengals get a little extra wiggle room before dealing with a free-agent class that includes Jessie Bates, Vonn Bell, Germaine Pratt, Hayden Hurst and more. They’re projected at $44.5 million in free cap space for now.
The NFL informed teams today that the 2023 salary cap will be a record $224.8 million per club, sources tell me and @RapSheet.
That’s up from $208.2 million in 2022, $182.5M in 2021 (COVID adjustment), 198.2M in 2020 and $188.2M in 2019.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 30, 2023
